This is a great article to prompt some thought and discussion around the impact of the Internet/WWW on writing. I heard lots of comments from faculty and staff alike, about how students communicated very different today, as compared to past decades. Few people deny that there has been a shift, but is this shift a positive one? And, whether or not you may think that the Internet/WWW is having a positive or negative impact on writing, or more broadly communication, is there anything we can do about it? Check out this article and the comments on it.

“In a famous passage from “Ulysses,” James Joyce recapitulates the development of the English language in 45 pages — from the archaic and formal (“Deshil Holles Eamus”) to the conversationally casual (“Pflaap! Pflaap! Blaze on”). Over the past decade, as more people have spent more time writing on the Internet, that same evolution has not only continued, it feels like it’s accelerated.

With so much discussion about how the Internet is changing journalism and media, there’s surprisingly little said about how writing itself has transformed. But it has changed in a dramatic if subtle way.”

Stefana Broadbent speaks about research showing how the Internet and WWW can enable intimate conversations. This is such a great video, especially since a lot of people feel that technology (and the Internet specifically) interferes with our ability to communicate with people (students included). Perhaps this video will shift the conversation…